


The Vimes' Determination

by Radiant_And_Alone



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen, Thud!, Vimes is tricky, Young Sam is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:33:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10660767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radiant_And_Alone/pseuds/Radiant_And_Alone
Summary: Vimes is determined, Susan now teaches in Ankh-Morpork and Vetinari loves some Thud!





	The Vimes' Determination

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Discworld fic, so bear with me if it's not great. As for the timeline, I'd say it's between Snuff and Raising Steam, and Susan has jumped forward in time from Thief of Time (Ha, that wasn't planned Susan just needs to be available and I don't know her timeline well)

“Sir.”  
“Vimes?”  
Vetinari’s eyebrow quirked upwards and a slight smile crept onto his lips.  
“Sir, is this strictly necessary.”  
“Of course”  
Vimes sighed and looked down at the board. He was left with 20 dwarves after just 7 moves, Vetinari however, still had 7 trolls. He grumbled and moved a dwarf across the board. Vetinari countered this by performing a shove and taking 3 of Vimes’s dwarves.  
“Damn! Why do you insist on us playing this wretched game if you always have the upper hand!”  
“Why Vimes, you could just ask me to teach you.”  
Vetinari managed to keep a straight face whilst saying this but both knew Vimes would rather let a vampire at his throat than ask Vetinari for help. They had been playing Thud! for at least an hour and Vetinari had won every game yet. 15 moves later and Vetinari won, again. He began to reset the board but before a new game could start the door burst open.  
“Your Lordship” Carrot nodded at Vetinari. “Commander, it’s 5:30.”  
_DAMN! Damn, damn, damn!_  
“How long will it take me to get to the hall, Carrot?”  
“On foot sir? 40 minutes.”  
Vetinari interrupted “Feel free to commandeer one of my coaches, gentlemen.”  
“Thank you, Sir. Carrot, how long with one of those?”  
“15 minutes Sir, depending on traffic.”  
Perfect.  
Vimes and Carrot rushed out of the oblong office, leaving Vetinari alone apart from Wuffles. He reached down and scratched the dog’s head.  
“Vimes has impressive dedication to family, don’t you think Wuffles?"

“How long do we have left Carrot?” “20 minutes, we’ll get there in time Commander”  
The black coach fitted out in Vetinari’s black livery and led by two black horses skidded along the edge of Hide Park. Soon they pulled up alongside a nondescript house and rushed inside. It was full of young sticky1 kids running around and parents lining the edge of the room.  
“DAD!”  
Vimes picked up Young Sam and twirled him around.  
“What did you learn today?”  
“I learnt about the game Thud! and I learnt my 3 times tables!”  
“Well done Sam.”  
A side door squeaked open and in walked a teacher. Her hair was completely white apart from one black streak.  
“Welcome parents, now if you come through here, the play can start.”

Vimes situated himself in a back corner where he could see all the exits, parents, and the stage. Just as the play started someone sidled up next to him.  
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced”  
He glanced sideways and saw the teacher leaning against the wall.  
“Commander Vimes, my son is Young Sam”  
“Samuel? Very interesting and determined child. I’m Susan, Duchess of Sto Helit.”  
_Duchess? What was the Duchess of Sto Helit doing teaching 7 year olds in an Ankh Morpork school._ He once again looked sideways to survey her. She had piercing eyes, seemed more than real and _not quite_ your average citizen 2.  
“Are you a witch?”  
“Blunt, I see. No, but my heritage is far from normal.”  
“I see.” _He really didn’t but watchmen know when to bluff._ Been here for a long time?”  
“No I joined last week, my previous job, uh, ended abruptly.” She said with a sly smile.  
He nodded and turned his eyes back to the play, where Young Sam and several other kids were doing a terrible job at playing dead.

“What did you think Dad?”  
“Brilliant Sam. Don’t you agree Carrot?”  
“Of course, your speech to Lily Von Lipwig3 was very good.”  
Vimes sighed internally. Of course Carrot knew the name of every little kid in the city, as well as their parents, and probably their heritage. 

“Dad, can we get a Thud! board?”  
Young Sam gazed up at his dad as the carriage rattled through the streets towards their house. Vimes groaned, _of course his kid wanted to learn Thud! He’d probably be expected to teach it to Young Sam as well._  
“Okay.” He said  
_Why couldn’t he just say no? No and I never want to see another bloody dwarf or troll piece. No and I never want to see another checkered board. But he couldn’t say no to Young Sam._

The next day, while picking up Young Sam, Vimes crept up to Susan’s desk.  
“Say, Duchess. How are you at playing Thud!?”  
Susan looked up from her desk and fixed her piercing stare on him. _By Io, why did the kids like her?_ “I am competent, Your Grace”  
“How would you like to tutor Young Sam?” He almost added _‘And me, so I can beat the bloody Patrician next time he insists we play Thud!’_ She raised an eyebrow in a way eerily similar to that of Vetinari  
“I suppose I could, and you would be allowed to, sit in on it, if you should want to.”  
_Damn, how did she know? She was bloody perceptive._ He glared at her and sighed.  
“That would be good. Just so I can play it with him, of course.”  
“Of course, what other reason would there be, your Grace?” She smiled sweetly.  
“DAD!” Young Sam ran in and wrapped himself around Vimes’s legs. Vimes picked him up and nodded at Susan.  
“We’ll be off then.”  
“Lessons start tomorrow night, I’ll drop by Scoone Avenue.”  
“Sounds good, thanks.”

5 o’clock the next night and there was a firm rapping on the door and whispers could be heard beyond.  
“Remember, I can pass you off as a pet, but NO TALKING.”  
“Well, someone has to know how to play Thud!”  
“I know how to play Thud! thank you very much. And no eating the pieces, they’re carved from rocks, they’re not nuts or eyes.”  
“Rules, rules, rules.”  
The door opened and Willikins ushered Susan in.  
“This way madam.”  
Susan nodded at Willikins and followed him to one of the various studies. Inside His Grace, His Excellency, The Duke of Ankh; Commander Sir Samuel Vimes sat on a rug covered in fluffy ducks whilst playing with his son.  
“Ah, Duchess. Had a good d - is that a _raven_ _Susan froze time_  
“No, I’m not getting you eyeballs. These two seem better than almost all the nobility I meet, and I meet a lot.”  
“Come on Susan” crowed the raven  
“No, and shut up or I’ll put you outside.”  
She unfroze time.  
/em >

“I think that anything round and squishy would suffice, grapes would be good.”  
“I’ll go notify the kitchen, Sam show her to the dining room.”  
“Of course, Sybil.”  
Sybil picked up Young Sam and departed. Standing up, Vimes gestured to Susan  
“This way, please Duchess.”

After dinner, Sam left to put Young Sam to sleep. Young Sam was blabbering on about day and Vimes was listening with intent. This left Sybil and Susan at the table.  
“Shall we move to the sitting room?” Sybil ventured.  
Susan smiled and stood up. “Lead the way.”  
As they left, Wilikins cleared the table.  
“Now, your parents wouldn’t happen to be Mort and Ysabell? Lovely couple4, only met them a couple times but I can see the resemblance.”  
“Yes they are, it’s been a few years since they passed on.”  
“I’m sorry dear, I didn’t want to bring up any bad memories.”  
“It’s fine. Although, I've been meaning to ask, these lessons for Young Sam, I get the feeling they’re not only for him, are they?”  
Sybil laughed. “Oh no, I think they’re half for Young Sam and half for Sam himself. You see, Havelock, the patrician, likes to play Thud! and has asked Sam to play with him multiple times. Havelock always wins and I think Sam is rather sour and would like to get back at him a bit.”  
By the time Susan left later that night, Sybil had added her name to her book of address and had gotten Susan to promise to visit again anytime.

It had been about a month after the lessons began that Vimes received another ‘invitation’ from Vetinari. It came in with the post and Wilikins handed it to him after he shaved. 

__

The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork,  
Havelock Vetinari  
Requests the company of Samuel Vimes at 4 o’clock this day to play Thud!  
Thank you for incorporating this event into your day

Vimes sighed and looked into the mirror. A sly smile spread across his face as an idea entered his head.  
“Wilikins, please tell the Patrician that Samuel Vimes shall indeed meet with him to play Thud!”

That day, at 4 o’clock on the dot, Samuel Vimes strolled into the Patricians Palace. After about 20 minutes of waiting (Damn that annoying clock in the waiting room), he was let in. He walked right across to the Thud! board where Vetinari was waiting. Unperceptable to anyone except perhaps Drumknott, a smile spread across Vetinari’s face before he made his first move. The game continued without a word. It was near the end, the match still quite close, that Vimes got up and went to speak to Drumknott.  
“I don’t know how he does it, or where he got it from, but at least Young Sam is good at Thud!”  
“I do believe Havelock has a soft spot for young ones and is going easier on him than usual, but yes, Young Sam certainly has talent.”

Later that night, as Vimes and his son (After winning about half the matches) were heading back to Scoone Ave, Vetinari turned to his secretary and said:  
“Young Sam has a good tutor5 and a lot of determination, which seems to be a family trait”  


###### FOOTNOTES

1\. As young kids are wont to be.  
2\. Of course, it could just be because she had hygiene standards, those were strangely lacking in Ankh-Morpork  
3\. The Von Lipwig’s were certain to give their children VERY ordinary names, Lily’s brother was named Steven.  
4\. Sybil had met them three times, once at their wedding, once when they visited Ankh-Morpork and once when she was travelling and she stopped over in Sto Helit.  
5\. Vetinari located Susan and they have monthly Thud! matches, she’s a close equal to him in skill.


End file.
